DirtSwimming

WHERE CHICAGO VIEWS THE REST OF LIFE.

Friday, June 23, 2006

The Age Old Challenge


Drinking a gallon of milk in one hour...
Can't be done.
"Cows have only been domesticated in the last eight thousand years, before that they were running around mad as lorries. The human digestive system hasn't got used to any dairy products yet, it takes a lot longer than that." - Tommy, Snatch (2000)

Jeff Fest 6/23 - 6/25



Enjoy a few beers and music at the Far From Being Famous Jeff Fest. Festivities start today at 4pm and continue thru Sunday. Get served by the legendary Alderman Levar and enjoy the only English speaking festival the Jefferson Park neighborhood has to offer.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Famous for being Famous: Get a Life

*Author’s Note – This will be the only time these individuals will be mentioned or written about on this site. This is a cleansing process, and establishing the position of this team.

DirtSwimming does not like celebrity gossip. Nor does it like people seeking to be in the news, rather than becoming the news by some act that will change our 401k. There are celebrities that can’t seem to get away from the news, be it their drug habits, firearm skills, mistaken home invasion, or deaths in their families. But there are other celebrities, that pay their publicists entirely too much money, to publish to the world that they have a new keychain, or are dating another celebrity, or forgot to pay a parking meter. Many news sources should be ashamed of themselves, releasing these stories sometimes one link below a tragic events in war and on the homefront. Many times, Dirtswimming will read a story about these folks in hopes that they are announcing retirement and a life of seclusion in the Black Hills of South Dakota. We haven’t had that luck. We do not wish death or harm on these people, we just want them to go away.

We here have put together of people who are famous for being famous, as well as starving for attention that they will do anything to make the headlines, and compared them to people of similar status who have taken what life has given them, and used and made something worthwhile to read about.

Paris Hilton
Without getting sued for slander, we will keep it as clean and professional as possible. Her ventures are failures. Her voice is as bad as a drunken Polish neighbor singing Stola. Her acting is something the UPN wouldn’t air at 2am. We feel that a person like her would become the spokesperson for the hotel empire that produced her. While far from royalty, she would contribute a helping hand to our folks in deprived countries. She would become an authority on one thing, even if it was wigwam socks. Instead, she is the true queen of flip-flopping. She has an interest of the week. She stamps her name on a product and leaves it in the dust. And makes the news for absolutely no GD reason at all. We have to read about her new video, her watches, her clubs, her appearances, her arguments with other losers who will be listed below, her car accidents, her secret video released without her consent (yeah right). While our only information is what we are splattered with in the papers, we feel it is time to take on a life of fading away. Your time will come, but not soon enough.

Vs.

Ivanka Trump
We feel this is Paris Hilton’s opposite in the Daddy’s Rich section. Ivanka has been given a very nice spot in her old man’s company. If it was nepotism, there are no complaints here. At least she is doing something positive with her connections. She may love to shop, she may love to party, or she may not. We don’t care. But the important thing is, we don’t know, and she doesn’t want us to know. Your parents raised you well young lady.

Lindsay Lohan
Her problems have been in the news as long as we can remember. Some of it was not her fault. Her family life was something of an after school special, and far from a Hallmark Sunday night classic. But we are tired or reading about the partying, the feuding, the car accidents, the broken nails, and anything else you have sat on. You want to act? Do it.

Vs.

Hillary Duff
We feel this is Lohan’s opposite in the Grows’d Up actress/singer category. Not sure what we read, but it is never negative. Life seems good, and we haven’t read about any rehab stints yet. Keep it that way. Same goes for her sister.

Britney Spears
Has so much in her life been taken care of, that all she knows how to do is breathe? We understand that the diseased dogs called the paparazzi tracks her every wrong move, but there seems to be plenty of them. But the real issue is what she feeds them, and that is negative vibes. The worst thing a celebrity can do to a paparazzo is to give them nothing to write about at all. When you carry your baby like a sack of onions, that gets noticed. When you chew gum in an interview, it shows lack of class. But she’s from the south so it is understood. She marries every father’s worst nightmare, and then stays with him. What happened to the squeaky clean gent from your hometown? Her birth religion was Southern Baptist and it didn’t let her down. You can’t deny a higher power exists when she left that behind for the religion of the month in Hollywood, and her world started turning.

Vs.

Christina Aguilera
We feel this is Spears’ opposite in the Pop Singer category. She played it smart and married a record executive, and left the controversy behind. Besides, she is a charitable person, for good or ill intentions, but someone is prospering. Hang on to this life and you’ll go places.

Nicole Ritchie
Her last name is the only reason she is anything. Her celebrity status is almost that of ours. The only thing important on her bio on imdb.com is that she is lawfully related to Lionel. When she thinks she is out of the news, she drops another 20 lbs. Write a book. Paint a mural. Do something constructive.

Vs.

Natalie Cole
We feel this is Ritchie’s opposite to Father Was a Great Singer category. Too tired and bored to do any research on whereabouts and what to dos, but we know it was more and better than Lionel’s daughter.

Madonna
47 year old women should be setting the trends for 47 year old women. She is as fake as it gets when morals come into play. We could go on forever about her, but simply let her fake English accent, faux devotion to an almost dead belief, and Aretha Franklinesque behavior speak for itself.

Vs.

Sheryl Crow
We feel this is Louise Ciccone’s opposite to 40+ Artist. She is home grown, beautiful, and less headlining. We like it that way.

Finally, Anna Nicole Smith
You can thank your two friends for making you famous. The more she does the dumber we get.

Vs.

Dolly Parton
We feel this is Smith's opposite when it comes to what DirtSwimming Notices First category.
She let everything else with her body bring her to her status. Keep on Truckin.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Memory Lane: The short life of Clemens

When Prospector was in 5th grade in the Chicago Public School system, a transfer student came through our door in mid October. Odd time of the year considering he only spent one month at another school before transfering here. At that age, we hated the parents who put their kids through the misery of 60 eyes working them up and down as they nervously wish they were never born. Homer Clemens was his name and since The Simpsons were still nestled into the Tracey Ulman show, he was spared several of todays mannerisms. Homer walked in with the principal with a get up that Prospector doesn't recall, but Prospector does know that he had an explosion of mud on the left side of his body. He broke the ice by flat out telling the class when his older sister pulled the car around the block, she whipped into a spot that had rainwater in it. He said it with such sincerity, not like a kid who tried to deny he messed his pants when it is otherwise unmistakable. The quarter progressed with Homer getting into plenty of trouble, usually for telling it like it was and not moving fast enough when bad things happened.
One day in Januaryish, Homer went missing for about a week. We thought he was either thrown out or transferred out. Turns out, one kid from class brought in a news clipping from the paper with Homer's name in it. Homer, who lived in Portage Park, was walking along the lakefront when his homework flew out of his bag, and of all places, on to the frozen tundra of Lake Michigan. Suddenly, and as Homer luck would have it, the ice broke just as he reached his homework and fell in to his waist. A passerby just so happened to be walking by and managed to rescue Homer before frostbite could arrive. He did probably have hypothermia and that was probably why he missed a few days of school.
Well, when he returned to school, he was Homer for about a week, before his name changed. The 5th grader formerly known as Homer, was now Leo, named after the great no one in particular. No one asked other than Homer was now put in the backseat. Homer was still Leo, and Leo was still Homer, and everyone loved having this kid around.
Then one day in March, Leo (Homer) disappeared again for about a week. With the amount of non-aggressive trouble he always got in, people figured he was either thrown out or transferred out. And since the ice had melted, we thought maybe he went back to get his homework. Turns out, he was using his sister's hairdryer (???) and, seriously, he left it on and left (think about it or don't, doesn't matter to me). Cause and effect: Hairdryer next to a bottle of hairspray on top of a Teen Beat magazine causes things to, I don't know, ignite. He burnt down the Goddamn house! When he finally got back to school, our teacher couldn't hold back and asked him if he had his homework, and would give him double credit if he did. He had a black eye, but we found out it was from his sister who was infatuated with Kirk Cameron at the time, and he ruined that issue.
Back to normal for a few days, he came back in and said his name was now Joe. So now, he would be addressed as Joe Leo Homer Clemens. None of us bought it or had the Chicago Public School capability of grasping that, so he became known as Homer...Leo..Joe...Clemens. 30 against 1, he was back to Homer in our eyes. Well, as noted earlier, our teacher had to take time off due to his illness, and we had the most psychotic substitute teacher you have ever known in your life. She gave a girl a detention for having to go to the bathroom after 5 hours, and sent Prospector to the principal for laughing. She turned off all of the lights to our science experiments on grass growing, and sent Prospector back to the principal for laughing at that. She marched us into an assembly for 7th and 8th graders only, a half hour late, and yet again sent Prospector to the principal for laughing.
Well Joe (Leo)(Homer) for once was in check because Prospector thinks he met his match. One day, one of the bussed in kids had enough of her and told her to kiss his b---- ass. At first, the mood in the room was as if nothing was ever said. Too many people were in shock that he said that, and that he said that out loud, and that he said that to a teacher, and that he said that to her. She stormed at this kid like Forrest Gump did when that guy hit Jenny. She started screaming at the kid and flailing her arms. She was moving them so fast that no one realized she had a pencil in her hand until she stuck poor Joe (Leo)(Homer) in the arm with it. He let out a yelp of a puppy and when his body reacted from the pain, he must've either kicked her or slapped her with his clutch hand. At that moment, the teacher redirected her screaming at Joe and sent him to the Vice Principal. The vice principal was more of a hard ass than the principal.
We never saw Homer Leo Joe Clemens again. He was expelled for too many infractions.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Don't be THAT Guy

Every news source we here at DirtSwimming read is about how we as people are destroying the environment with our SUVs, charcoal BBQs, weed killer, and complete disregard for electricity. We take offense to that. SUVs are put to better use than any 12mpg 2-seater on the road. As the owner of a house reaching the century mark, it needs more work than your average suburban townhouse (which was built on natural air-filtering, prairie grass). As men of honor, we take after our ancestors and enjoy meat over flame. It was how they did it back in the day, it is how we will do it now.
But the true violators are not Americans themselves, or the Chinese, or New Yorkers. They are nocturnal predators. Single men who favor the nightlife in search of their stress release on all-too-suspecting women who are guilty of the same offenses. We could give a rundown off all the vices women impose on the world, but we love women, even if we are married. And furthermore, we want women to love us, even if we are married.
So the scumbags are to blame. And we here have a long list of ways they can curb their destruction to the only planet we have to piss on. The likelihood that their ways will change, but you can only lead a horse to water. So without further adieu, we add to the soon to be worn out trend of bettering the environment.
Energy Savings:
-Ditch the hair-dryer. Not only are they unsafe (sink full of shaving water), but they are loud and electrical sponges.
-It is unnecessary to fulfill your masculine needs by converting your apartment/condo/house into Caesar’s Palace Sports Book. ESPN is fine to have on in the living room, but in stereo is a waste of juice. Besides it can only be heard in passing, because of course you have Gnarls Barkley blaring thru your PC speakers, and Deep Dish blaring on the CD player in the bathroom. If you weren’t charging your iPod, and cell phone in the kitchen, you might have an outlet for a radio in there. Your electric bill must be a part of your rent or else you’d care.
-While the fridge cools the testicles and dries up the swamp ass on a July evening, decide what you want to eat/drink before you get to the door. You have ketchup, Kraft singles, a pickle, soy sauce packets, three beers, one liter of a 2 liter of Coke, and Easter bunny chocolate. Your have a finite amount of choices. You are thirsty and it is a Wednesday, Coke or Beer. You are hungry, Kraft or Chocolate. You have to have thought of this on the way to the kitchen. Open, grab, close. You just saved 500lbs of coal being burned.
-Stop hitting snooze on the alarm clock and get your ass up. Why not earn more money than you spend?
-PS2, a DVD player, 60 disc CD changer, 32 inch TV: needed and exempt.
-Save a few more dollars and stop charging the battery for the camera you are putting in the closet when you get your freak on. It is almost illegal, and if found, you can kiss the night club good bye.
-Buy energy efficient bulbs. They cost a few dollars more, but they save lots of extra energy and effort.
Water Conservation:
-Shaving at the sink is encouraged. Shaving in the shower is helpful, but you have to have that soul patch and those side burns just right.
-Give up on the courtesy flush. If it didn’t go down and wash the walls on the way out, you need to change your diet.
-The worst shower in Chicago will warm up in 5 minutes. In that time, take care of all other tasks that would use up unneeded water and power. Don’t occupy that time by masturbating on the toilet.
-Pee in the shower. But only when showering. Studies have shown the uric acid not only kills harmful bacteria on your feet, but kills whatever is trying to climb up that drain pipe.
Fuel Consumption:
-Cruising for women was dying in the 80s and was dead in the 90s. Stop it. Gas is $3.25 a gallon. What the hell do you do for a living?
- Peeling off of a light is about as cool as racing to the front of the line in a cafeteria when you were 16. People shook their heads then, and still do now.
-Valet Parking. While DirtSwimming doesn’t pay for parking ever, it certainly saves on driving around for a ½ hour looking for the perfect spot. Taxis help too.
-A guy has never been turned down for driving an economy car, as long as it wasn’t his mother’s.

Now that we have paved the way to a more environmental chap, he will have plenty more money in the trousers to spend all over town.

Monday, June 19, 2006

Welcome to DirtSwimming


Welcome to DirtSwimming
Politics, Sports, Food, Wine, Real Estate, Current events, summer city events, and Career gripe is more than welcome. Pardon the blog construction (if there is such thing). We'll have this up and running in no time.